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Bruno Duarte's late acrobatics ensured a well-deserved point for Vitoria SC as they held a lacklustre Arsenal to a 1-1 draw, after Shkodran Mustafi's 80th-minute header had the visiting side in the driver's seat.
Ivo Vieira's side were clearly the brighter side in the opening exchanges of the fixture, and had the Gunners on the ropes. They produced the better football, and were unlucky at times to not have taken the lead.
However, after what turned into a spiritless game for the majority of the second half, a late spark resulted in a frantic flourish - led by the home team's spearhead in Duarte. The crucial point for Vitoria put an end to Unai Emery's perfect Europa League record this season, as well as delayed their potential qualification to the knockouts.
On that note, we discuss the five major talking points from Arsenal's draw against Vitoria.
#1 Arsenal set up with three at the back as Emery makes eight changes
The Gunners made no fewer than eight changes to the side that shared the spoils with Wolverhampton Wanderers last weekend.
The young Rob Holding was asked to don the captain's armband in the absence of the now-skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Partnering him on either side of a back three were Sokratis and Mustafi.
Emiliano Martinez, who kept his side in the game early on with a slew of spectacular saves, started in goal. Meanwhile Kieran Tierney and Ainsley Maitland-Niles plied as wing backs, and Dani Ceballos and Joe Willock manned the heart of midfield.
On the ball, the visitors held a 3-4-3 configuration, with the wing backs wider and more advanced and the forward three operating in close proximity with one another.
Nicolas Pepe, who made an instant, heroic impact off the bench in the reverse fixture, occupied his favored right wing spot, whereas Bukayo Saka joined him on the other flank.
The in-form forward Gabriel Martinelli led the line, as Alexandre Lacazette was confined to a place on the bench.
#2 Arsenal's attacking approach in the middle proves costly early on
Although seeing most of the ball and controlling the tempo in the first half, a tame headed effort from Holding was all Arsenal could boast in front of goal. On the contrary, the hosts produced ample chances and gave their opponents a real rattle up front.
The Gunners' wing backs were well advanced and operating in a sharper role, meaning their defence was vulnerable to a stretch whenever the ball would be lost.
The narrow positions held by the central defenders further stretched the back three, which remained vulnerable to shots from distance throughout.
Susceptible to losing out in key areas, as portrayed by the sloppy display by Maitland-Niles with the ball on a couple of occasions, Arsenal allowed a lot of space to the hosts.
It was not surprising when Pepe Rodrigues and Marcus Edwards fabricated two jolts from range. While the former was unlucky to have been denied by the frame, the North London-born midfielder had Emiliano Martinez outstretched.
Ceballos and Willock, naturally being more explosive in nature, aided this tactical defect.
#3 Arsenal lack cohesion while going forward
On an afternoon where they should have bossed the game on all fronts, Arsenal couldn't even muster an effort on target until Mustafi's goal. They lacked the firepower in the final third, and their front three looked completely disjointed.
When a side plays with three at the back, it's imperative for the trio upfront to lock down triangular adaptations, pick quick passes and conduct interchanges as much as possible.
However, that was hardly to be seen as none of Saka, Pepe or Martinelli managed to infuse that bit of quality required to dismantle Vitoria's back line. Pepe did pick Mustafi out quite well for the goal, but otherwise, the winger was way below par.
There were hardly any exchanges between the three, and it was quite visible that the final ball was missing. Martinelli and Saka worked hard off the ball, but Pepe could have done much better down the right. Individual moments count for seconds, but a collective display is what wins matches.
The tricky winger lost possession very often, struggled to change his pace according to the situation and couldn't occupy a promising position inside the box. There was minimal to no sharpness from him or his partners.
#4 Set-piece issues cloud both sides as Mustafi breaks the deadlock
Unai Emery has seriously got to work on set pieces and dead ball drills in training. Not once or twice but thrice, Arsenal were caught while trying to play an audaciously high line while defending free kicks.
Twice from the left channel they saw their offside trap get ripped to shreds as Frederico Venancio and young Edmond Tapsoba skipped away from their respective markers to launch free headers. The latter had also forced a flying save from Martinez earlier in the game when Vitoria took the attack to Arsenal.
Vitoria on their part lacked communication as well, owing to their lack of decisiveness during corners. There was no real voice to marshal the back line, while poor allotment at times caused them a host of problems.
The issue rose to a boiling point when the entire defence, especially Lucas Evangelista, completely dozed off to allow Mustafi to run beyond the tight line.
That piece of shoddy, careless defending epitomized their response to pressure, and more significantly, their set piece issues too.
#5 Arsenal's mentality under the scanner as Vitoria snatch a well-deserved point
They couldn't go the extra mile to beat basement club Watford in the Premier League, and as recently as this Saturday, the Gunners crawled to a 1-1 draw against Wolves.
After having taken a 2-0 lead inside the first 10 minutes at the Emirates against Crystal Palace, Emery's troops surrendered and dropped points in that match too.
They were again left ruing lost chances and lack of incision after the 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United.
And today, their spotless Europa League campaign came to an end in agonizing fashion. The result has made the fans wonder if Arsenal have the intensity, hunger and desire to go out there and grit out crucial, testing wins.
Vitoria lost impetus mid-way through the match, and it wasn't that tough a task for Arsenal to maintain their hard-fought lead and take home all three points. But they couldn't hold on.
The cross was effortlessly allowed to come in, while no one closed down Duarte or picked him in the first place. This might seem churlish, but Martinez could have parried it away more forcefully too.
It's these little moments that separate talented sides from world-class teams.
